I also hate to admit it, but I think most (not all) of the CDs I've met would be the first to encourage having a student securely anchored to the bottom. I've even been failed on a couple of the Demonstration quality skills because the examiner wanted me on my knees so the students could better learn how they should be doing the skill. I'm not saying its a good thing, but it seems to be pretty much the standard.
The problem is that once something has become a traditional mode of operation, people are reluctant to consider alternatives. The reason for the kneeling is a good one--start students in increments they can handle rather than task loading them all at once. When people suggest there is a different way of accomplishing the same goal, they have trouble imagining it.
Because of discussions on this topic in the Instructor to Instructor forum, I have over the past months gradually been doing away with the kneeling practice in my own instruction, experimenting with different ways of dong the required skills to eliminate the planted on the bottom techniques. Just the other day I finished a pair of students in the latest version of my experimentation.
- In CW 1, the students did have contact with the bottom of the shallow end of the pool, but all skills were done while buoyant in a fin pivot type of position.
- In CW 3 and CW 4, students emptied their BCDs in order to initiate the fin pivot and the hover. (I am still thinking through those.)
- All other skills, including no mask swim/mask replacement, weight belt removal/replacement, and scuba unit removal/replacement, were done while neutral.
My experimentation showed me that not only did this not increase the task loading, it decreased it. Students learned critical skills faster and more easily. It is counter intuitive, but given more time to explain, I can show you why it is true.
I work in a shop with about a dozen experienced instructors, and I did my experimentation over time on my own. When I got near the point described above, I told the Course Director what I was doing, and he was very interested and very positive. He himself had been doing most of the traditional "planted on the bottom" skills while buoyant, and he was quite encouraging of my continued experimentation. When I described the class above two days ago, he thought it was great. Right now, the plan is for me to make a presentation to the rest of the instructors in our next group meeting.
I have recently talked about it with two other instructors. I described it to one of our most experienced instructors, and he was very leery when I did. He was in the shop when I did my last CW 1, and I invited him to drop in and watch from time to time. He did, and he was immediately converted. He saw how very much easier it is, just for one example, to do the regulator recovery skills while in that position rather than kneeling. The second instructor had a similar revelation.
I encourage all instructors to give this some thought--in time we may have a new paradigm.